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Showing posts with the label language

Chapter 1 - Theory before 'theory' - liberal humanism

Development of English studies: Ignore the confusing order in which this topic is presented in the textbook. Before the pointy UFO's (<^> <^> <^>) is in brief ( pages 11 through 16 ) and after them is in detail ( pages 21 through 35 ). In the beginning (first quarter of 19th century) the study of English was a Church monopoly. The two institutions, Cambridge and Oxford were separate and ran as monasteries, with ordained priests, Anglican communicant students etc, all the way until the 1820's A breakthrough happened in 1826 when a University College was founded for men and women of all religions or none at all - no biggie - that started offering English as a subject in 1828. (This was basically the study of English as a language, using literature only for examples) King's College is the beginning of Literature as we know it. F. D. Maurice, appointed Professor in 1840, laid down some of the principles of liberal humanism (he also believed that literat...

In Custody (Anita Desai)

Urdu comes from 'Ardu' meaning army Noor- Represents dying Urdu - very secular He does not find liqour sinful portrayal of Urdu as a secular language - not always islamic Noor also did not find poetry religious  1) cohabitation of languages -English narration of a story about Urdu and Hindi -Reaches wider audience, unbiased, neutral - no condescending or patronizing tone; chronicling the death of a language 2) social life of language -Linguicide -Languages do not exist in isolation; must be spoken to live on 3) hero worship -Especially of intellectuals like Noor -Attitudes may be either of awe or utilitarian -This explains his marriage to Begum, the poet and intellectual - earlier his disciple - now his wife and companion 4) title, 'In Custody' -All characters in custody of someone else -languages also change hands (mouths) 5) politics of language -North/South divide - butt of jokes -elite/ordinary - social status http://www.indianrumination...